Once Broken, Now Healed
by Sarame Uchiha
Summary: Fem Naruto/Gaara. Based after Shinobi war against Kabuto/Madara.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto sat on the ground, holding Gaara's head in her lap. How unfair the whole thing was. He had already died once, now he was fading, and she couldn't do anything. They were just outside the medic's tent, which was full of other patients. Tsunade had been by and healed him some, but she herself was battered and needed to rest. Their fight with Madara had left all of the Kages in some form of either exhaustion, or close to death.

"Oh, Gaara. Please wake up. We were supposed to be Kages together. Sure, you made it before me, but I'm getting close too. Believe it!" Tears streamed down Naruto's face as she tried to sound as positive as possible.

"Naruto?"

Naruto looked up at Sakura and wiped the tears from her eyes before flashing one of her megawatt smiles. "Yeah, Sakura-chan?"

"I know it's not really all that orthodox, but could you help me patch Gaara up? I'm getting close to being out of chakra, but I could use yours like Granny Chiyo did that one time. No, I won't be using that jutsu." Sakura added when she saw Naruto's eyes widen.

She could do this. Naruto wiped her eyes once more and focused her chakra, letting it be guided by Sakura to heal the Kazekage's broken and battered body. It took them a while, but he was finally out of harm's way, and away from Death's door.

"Oh, Kami-sama, arigato," Naruto whispered over and over when she saw Gaara's eyelids flutter. Sakura was beat, but Naruto's vigor came right back as she stood and picked up her friend, the former jinchuriki.

She walked with him in her arms to his tent; no one gave them two glances, except the guards at the Kazekage's tent entrance.

"I just came to get him in his own bed. There wasn't really room in the medic tent, and the ground isn't all that comfortable."

The guards nodded and let them in, even opening the flap of the tent for her. Just before he let the flap fall, the guards both bowed to her and the one holding the flap said, "He's always been grateful for your friendship, Naruto-sama."

The tent flap closed before she could protest being called "sama" and she mumbled to herself as she heard Kurama chuckling in her mind. 'Aw, shut it Kurama. I'm not used to them doing anything like that and I really don't need you adding to it.' The demon scoffed slightly before falling asleep. Naruto rolled her eyes at the demon and walked over to Gaara's bed roll.

She laid him down gently; making sure the pillow was underneath his head and pulled the blanket over him. When she turned to go, Naruto thought she heard some sand snaking around the room, but saw nothing when she looked. Naruto turned fully; standing up to head back out of the tent when something grabbed her and yanked her back until she thunked beside Gaara's body facing him. Bright blue met turquoise and Naruto blushed once she realized how close they were.

"G-Gaara? What are you doing?"

"Hm? Oh, you mean pulling you close?" he asked and snaked his arms around her waist releasing his sand.

Naruto nodded, he cheeks still bright pink.

"Well, I never got to thank you properly for opening my eyes, have I?"

Naruto's brow furrowed in confusion. "**Jeeze, kit. You sure are thick.**" 'Shut it Kurama. Weren't you asleep?' The demon scoffed once more before chuckling as his jailer's mind was wracked with confusion.

Gaara's lips were pressed to hers, waiting to see if she would react. After a few moments, he pulled back to look at her face. Now he was confused. Why hadn't she reacted at all? Surely he wasn't that bad a kisser?

He stared into those confused, teary blue eyes and felt her body shaking slightly.

"Naruto? Are you alright?"

She smiled as bright as she could, only managing a halfway there imitation. "I'm alright, Gaara."

It was Gaara's turn to furrow his brow. He knew she was lying, but what was she so scared about? Gaara reached up slowly to brush his hand gently over her whiskered cheek. She flinched slightly but let him touch her.

"Naruto," he whispered, "Please don't lie to me. What is wrong?

Naruto did the only thing she could think of to try to get him off of the subject. She kissed him. He kissed back gently before pushing her back slightly and looking deeply into her eyes.

"Naruto, tell me. Please. I could order you to tell me, I am the main commander after all."

"I-I just d-don't trust guys all that much."

Naruto's mind flew back to her years at the academy.

_(Flashback)_

_Naruto was trying to hide from him, but it seemed no matter what she couldn't escape the man that chased after her now. He caught her by the arm before slapping her hard in the face._

"_You know better than to run from me. Or at least I thought you did. You know you'll have to be punished for running from me."_

_Naruto shook her head, eyes wide with fear. She struggled and tried to pull her arm from Mizuki's strong grasp. She cried and kept struggling as Mizuki pinned her to the forest floor._

"_It's time for retribution, Kyuubi brat," Mizuki spat as he pulled out a kunai and sliced off Naruto's clothing. The last thing she consciously felt was him thrusting into her before her mind went blank. She somewhat felt the man's lips against hers trying to fish a reaction from her._

_When he was done, he got up and used her torn clothes to clean himself up, leaving her there, laying on the forest floor._

_(End Flashback)_

"H-he hurt me, Gaara." Naruto shuddered at the memory. She hadn't been found until a few days later, still laying there. To those that found her, they just thought that someone had roughed her up like they had done before, and she let them think that for years.

Gaara just hugged her body to him, caressing her soft blonde locks and letting Naruto cry herself to sleep. They both stayed in that position until they were awoken the next morning by a concerned Tsunade. Needless to say, she was relieved that they were both safe. And now, Naruto could start to finally heal.

Gaara kept Naruto close for the entire journey back to Konoha. He kept trying to convince her to come to Suna for a break. She wouldn't hear even one word of it. That is, until Tsunade ordered her to take a vacation. Naruto sighed and shook her head in defeat.

Even though she had her own tent, Gaara insisted she sleep in his, so each night, she would drag herself and her stuff over to his tent. Some nights they slept like that first night, others, they slept in their respective bed rolls. Every night, Gaara would try to wiggle more information out of her about what happened in her childhood. Apparently, Mizuki wasn't the first, nor was he the last, to take her against her will, though he was the most consistent in the action.

Every time they talked about her multiple rape incidents, she would fall asleep in Gaara's arms, feeling comfortable with a man for once in her life.

Once they were in Konoha, Naruto hurriedly packed up what she would need in Suna and ran to Ichiraku's Ramen to get as much ramen as she could eat.

Ayame welcomed her with a great smile and immediately refused any sort of payment from the hero of the war. Naruto didn't feel all that like a hero. Weren't heroes supposed to be strong in all ways? She certainly wasn't.

It took Gaara a little while, but he finally found her at the ramen shop when she was on her third bowl.

"Naruto, we're ready to head out."

"Aww! But Gaara! Why can't we stay in Konoha for a little while?" Naruto asked with a pout.

"I have to go back and run my village. And, I would like if you would travel with me."

Ayame overheard the conversation and took the opportunity to shoo Naruto away before she ate all the ramen in the stand. "I did say it was free, but four bowls of ramen is enough." Ayame chuckled when Naruto pouted at her and finished off her bowl.

"Ugh! I don't remember it taking this long before!"

"Naruto, the last time you came out to Suna, Kankuro was in dire need of medical treatment and I had been kidnapped by the Akatsuki. You and your team literally ran all the way to Suna from Konoha. We can't this time, however, because we have wounded."

Naruto muttered something about slow healing people and Gaara couldn't help but chuckle at the girl.

They had been in Suna for three weeks, when Naruto asked Gaara to kiss her. Since then, it was like they were inseparable. Gaara took it slow for her, he knew she needed to heal, as infuriating as his hormones sometimes made it feel.

One night, when Naruto had one of her memories turn into a nightmare, she crawled into Gaara's bed, snuggled close to his warmth.

Gaara awoke the next morning with Naruto secure within his strong arms. He smiled and smoothed her hair, putting her loose bangs behind her ears. She muttered something that he almost didn't hear and snuggled even closer to him. He smiled softly and kissed her forehead.

He wanted to stay there and just watch her sleep, but he had a village to run, and so he got out of bed. He noticed that she hadn't worn much to bed and that it was all bunched up from her shifting around so much during the night. He quickly wrote her a note, laying it on his now empty pillow and got dressed for the day.

Naruto yawned and stretched, feeling her hand hit a small scroll that was written to her.

_Naruto,_

_Don't worry, nothing happened last night between the two of us. I think you had a nightmare and crawled into my bed again._

_Breakfast should be ready for you down in the kitchen once you get dressed._

_I'll see you for lunch._

_Gaara_

_P.S. I love you too._

When had their friendship flowered into this new, tender relationship? They had become closer every day since she had helped Sakura heal him. What was it about him that made her feel so safe? Well, those strong arms and that ultimate defense certainly helped. But what was it really?

She was able to open up to him, and he to her. She had learned more about him in the past two months, than all the years she had known him. She almost couldn't believe how much she had told him either. She had told him everything. From the first time she was beaten half to death, to the time when Sasuke, her team mate, had taken her forcefully.

Naruto sat and pondered on how things had changed for her over the past few months and years. She wasn't glared at as much; people actually let her into their shops. She didn't have to steal anything like she did when she was younger. She had friends, a make-shift family of sorts. And now, she had Gaara.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto stretched in her bed only to have her arm meet another warm body. She looked over and smiled when she saw her beloved red head. Looking around the room, she chuckled. They were in her room for once. She squinted, trying to remember what happened last night.

She had been woken up partially when she felt someone crawling under the covers. She had looked to see spiky dark red hair and promptly fell back asleep.

Naruto smiled and got up. It was time to start the day no matter how much she wanted to go back to sleep and cuddle with her man. Fixing her pajamas, which were bunched up from her moving so much, she walked around to the side of the bed Gaara was on. Slowly, she leaned and touched a hand to his shoulder shaking him softly. Gaara groaned something about five more minutes before realizing he wasn't in his room and sitting up quickly, head-butting Naruto.  
>"OW!" she cried out and fell back onto her butt. She rubbed her forehead gently while Gaara looked at her with an odd look. She looked back up at him and saw that he looked fine. "Stupid sand not letting him feel how hard we hit," she mumbled under her breath as she stood back up. Nothing seemed out of whack. Balance was fine, thought pattern normal. She even heard Kurama chuckling at how stupid she was for letting her head hover over his. Once her small assessment was done, she turned back to her boyfriend.<p>

"Good morning, Gaara-kun. You came in here around three in the morning I think. Were you up late doing paper work again?" Gaara nodded and mussed his hair gently. "Oh Gaara, that's what clones are for. You know, like a sand clone or a shadow clone? You sleep, and it does the work and releases itself afterwards."

"I know that, Naru-chan. I just don't quite trust a clone by itself."

"They're a copy of you, remember? You're not quite one for mischief, so your clone wouldn't make a ruckus."

"True. I promise I'll try that tonight." "What are you talking about? It's your day off, remember? I mean sure, if you want to leave a clone to try and get ahead of things, sure. But, you promised me we'd get to spar today!" Naruto pouted with the cutest face and Gaara just had to hug her.  
>She yelped as she was pulled onto the bed and was rolled onto her back, Gaara hovering over her.<p>

"As if I would forget, Naru. We'll have our spar after lunch. Though for now, it would be best if we got dressed for the day and ate breakfast." He got off of her before she could really register what position they had been in.  
>Naruto might have been comfortable enough to sleep in the same futon or bed as him, but she was still nervous about anything else. Only on a few occasions had they done more than cuddling and a kiss now and then. Luckily, Gaara was able to read her fairly well and knew when to stop so that he wouldn't make her uncomfortable. They have been together for about a year and Gaara was going to make today special. It had been hard to hide everything from his love, but with Kankurou and Temari's help, he had managed.<p>

After breakfast, Gaara decided that it would be best for both of them if they sparred before lunch. He and Naruto separated momentarily to change into more suitable sparring clothing. They sparred for two hours, mostly because Naruto complained that she hadn't been able to go to sleep as easily due to the lack of long enduring training. They then spruced up and headed off to lunch.

"Gaara?"  
>"Yes, Naruto?"<br>"I love you."  
>Gaara smiled brightly and replied with a kiss to her cheek, "I love you too, Naru."<p>

After lunch Gaara was rushed out by his secretary who said he had important paperwork and was not to be disturbed until he was done. Naruto vehemently reminded the secretary that they were supposed to be going to dinner tonight and had better not make him late. The chunnin nodded quickly and rushed off almost dragging the Kazekage with him.

Naruto was frustrated. It was supposed to be Gaara's day off, and he apparently had this urgent business to attend to. Seeing her frustration, Temari pulled Naruto down into their basement work out area and let her go at the different equipment and dummies. Two more hours later, Temari was back and found Naruto napping. She woke the younger girl up and shooed her off to go get ready for her date. She was back and saw what Naruto was wearing and forced the girl to change into something fancier, and girlier, with only mild protestations from the jinchuriki. A note came in saying that Gaara would meet her there and with a soft huff, Naruto was taken, by carriage, to the restaurant.

She walked in the front and the host immediately ushered her into the next room, not before blind folding her though. He led her back, holding her shoulders gently. It took only a few seconds before she could hear music and only a few more before the man had her stand still and removed the blindfold. She saw Gaara in a suit in front of her. No wonder Temari made her change.

He walked over to her and grabbed her hands gently.

"Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, the past year that we have spent together has been the absolute best year of my life. Getting to know you and sharing my world with you has been amazing. I love you. I love everything about you. Your golden hair and bright blue eyes. Your dazzling smile and happy nature. No matter what, I want to be beside you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Naruto looked at Gaara with a question on her face. He just chuckled and got down on his knee while reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small black box.  
>"Naruto, my love, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"<p>

Naruto's eyes widened before watering as she launched herself at Gaara, tackling him to the floor.

"Yes! A million times yes!"


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto was so nervous. She still couldn't believe Tsunade supported her in this decision, hadn't even brought up what she was giving up for her beloved. And the paper work! She and Gaara had loads of scrolls and documents stacked on their study tables that they had to fill out.

"Oh my gosh! I have no idea how you deal with this every day!" Naruto exclaimed as she slid down in her chair. Gaara took one look at her face and had to force himself not to laugh. Laugh? Gaara laughs? Well, apparently around his blonde angel he does. Human emotions still caught him off guard now and again. Like the other day when they were walking through the streets together…

_It was a nice breezy day as they walked through the bazaar. Gaara's laugh rang out through the crowd as Naruto had successfully pranked one of his ANBU. It was a simple thing, but it was all the more reason to laugh. Naruto had transformed into a small fox and had nipped at his heels before disappearing completely five times. Finally frustrated, the ANBU dashed off into an alley to see if he could catch the pursuing nuisance._

_He smirked when he saw the small fox trouncing after him. He made to catch it, and the "wild animal" let him. Before he could say, "Got'cha!" the fox grew larger and larger before settling in an animal big enough to fill the alley, but still able to turn around. The ANBU's eyes widened and he shouted in fright. At the shout, Naruto poofed back into her normal human form. The man before her chuckled nervously and nearly fainted when he saw and heard the Kazekage laughing at the scene. This would not go down well back at base._

_Gaara collected Naruto from the alley, her eyes shining with mirth. "That was fun! I pranked an ANBU!" she giggled as she jumped up and down in the middle of the street. Gaara's gaze was pulled from her bouncing form as he locked eyes with someone staring at Naruto's curvy bits. With all the __**grr**__ he could muster, he glared at the man who immediately backed off. As they walked back to the Kazekage manor, Gaara couldn't help but notice just how many men had eyes on his fiancé._

He knew she didn't mind as much since no look they could give her would be worse than the glares of the Leaf villagers. Her words, not his. He didn't like the way some of the men had looked at her though. He found he had some possessiveness in him after all and felt jealousy for the first time.

Naruto was still fuming at the pile of paper work associated to her soon to be marriage to her lovely red head. She fumed for ten minutes before she finally had a brilliant idea, shadow clones! Why not, she had used them to train, so if she had one at least help her with the paper work, it'd go twice as fast and she'd still know what they said because of the memories that come with the clone!

"Eureka!" she shouted, pulling Gaara from his thoughts.  
>"Eureka?"<br>"Yes, eureka! I just solved the age old bane of kages!"  
>"Which bane?"<br>"Paper work, silly! Just use shadow clones!"  
>"That's all and good for kages of Leaf, but what of the rest of us?"<br>"I could teach you, and I doubt Tsunade would mind telling the others how to do it. Paper work sucks! Now I understand Jii-san's groans whenever something happened in the village."

"Jii-san is the Sandaime Hokage, right?"  
>"Yep! You remembered!" she giggled.<br>"Of course, I could never forget a precious person. Especially one so dear to my love," he smiled and moved so that he could kiss his Naru.

She smiled and cuddled up against Gaara's side. She placed her hands in the familiar cross symbol. "This is the hand sign for it, and this, is how much chakra you need to put in," she concentrated before continuing. "Kagebunshin no jutsu!"

Another Naruto popped up and said, "What'cha want, master?"  
>"Help with the bane of kages! Paper work!"<p>

The two Naruto's laughed together before turning to Gaara in expectation. He sighed softly and performed the jutsu. Shortly after, another Gaara popped into existence. The clone Naruto gave the other clone a wicked smirk and pounced him.

"Hey now! No capitalizing on our feelings. We need help with this wedding documentation, that and you both know that we've decided to wait," Naruto scolded the clones that had started kissing passionately.

The blonde clone pouted as she got off of the red headed clone and helped him up. The four then got to work.

It took two more hours, but they got all of the paper work done. They toasted a few times with sake before going to bed. Naruto was officially a Sunan kunoichi, and everything was squared away for their wedding in two months.

It was certainly a good night.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: in advance, here's the pic of her dress and kind of how her hair looks i250. photobucket albums/ gg263 / Sarame _Uchiha/ Konachancom- 45983 sample. jpg obviously, remove the spaces

Naruto just could not believe that the day was already here. Tsunade had arrived a few days ago to support her honorary daughter. Despite her own, and Gaara's, wishes, they were to be married before most of Suna and she was not looking forward to the crowd.

Noticing her frown, Sakura came over and rubbed Naruto's shoulders softly. "Hey, Naru, are you getting nervous?"  
>The jinchuriki sighed and shook her head. "I'm just not sure about the crowds. They've never really been a good thing for me."<br>Hinata chose at that moment to chime in, "Don't worry so much, Naru-chan. I know crowds are worrisome, but both Leaf and Sand ANBU are out there watching over you both." Sometimes the Hyuuga girl still surprised Naruto at how confident she had become.

Taking a few deep breaths, Naruto looked at herself in the full-length mirror and couldn't help but smile. She looked so different from normal and, for once, she really liked it. It wasn't every day that you could catch Kurama's jinchuriki in a dress, but today wasn't a normal day. Today, she was getting married to her love, to Gaara.

Suddenly the door opened and the three kunoichi crouched into a battle stance before laughing, it was just Tsunade.  
>"Come on, Naruto, girls. Everything is ready and waiting on the bride to walk down the aisle," she said and helped put the final touches on Naruto's veil.<p>

Hinata and Sakura left, allowing the "mother" and "daughter" some private time.

Tsunade hugged her gently and stroked her cheek. "I am very proud of you, Naruto. Proud that you found someone that will take care of you when you need it most, and will let you help him as well. I know you wanted to be Hokage, but I'm just glad that you're safe and finally whole. He has been very good for you, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, he has, obaa-chan." Tsunade's face made calling her grandma worth it. The Hokage spluttered momentarily before softly glaring and hooking her arm in Naruto's.  
>"Well, let's go. We mustn't keep the groom waiting."<p>

They walked down the hall to the ceremony room and butterflies attacked Naruto's stomach. She hadn't see Gaara in a week, apparently local tradition, and she just couldn't wait to see him once more.

When she walked in, the crowd gasped and cooed at just how marvelous she looked. Her flowing dress was customary of a Leaf bride, a last hurrah for her home village. Gaara was dressed in traditional Sunan groom's wear. Their garb combined represented the joining of Suna and Konoha.

Blue eyes connected with teal as they looked over one another. Naruto had the sudden urge to run and hug her soon to be husband and, judging by his expression, he would catch her and hug her rather tightly. The arm in her own reminded Naruto that this wasn't just some informal gathering. Her mentor, her Hokage was formally giving the jinchuriki to the Kazekage. Not only as a wife, but as a gesture of good faith and camaraderie between the two hidden villages.

By the time she joined Gaara at the altar, she was hardly able to pay attention to words and was very glad that they had decided to repeat vows. Gaara was a little more collected, but couldn't agree more with the repeated vows. He already had plans for a quiet, intimate setting to give her his own vows, which only added to the ones they were to repeat today.

The next clear moment for both of them came at the end when they were told to kiss and seal their bond.

The Kazekage gently took his bride in his arms and kissed her, trying to show her just how happy he was that she was there beside him. She kissed him back, her hands wanting to creep into his hair and pull him closer. Too soon, it was over and they were being presented as husband and wife for the first time.

Hours later, a happy yet exhausted couple found themselves stumbling into their bed. For the first time in a week, they curled around each other and fell asleep.

~~~10 years later~~~

It was the first day for their oldest child to go to the academy and Naruto couldn't help but keep fussing. Her oldest kept complaining that she looked like a chicken with its head removed as she dashed to and fro trying get everything just right. Gaara just looked on with mirth in his teal eyes.

"Dad, why is she doing this again? I thought we had everything ready yesterday," Koichi pouted and tapped his foot. "I'm going to be l-"  
>Gaara quickly put a hand to his son's mouth. "You know better than to say that word when she's like this. Remember what happened last time?" Koichi flinched as he remembered when his father had said that before a state dinner. His poor mother had been a mess.<p>

"Daddy? Mommy is glowing red," their youngest, Mayu, pointed out.  
>Gaara cursed inwardly and wrapped Naruto in a blanket of sand, softly consoling her frantic mind. He muttered, "If I didn't already know that she was pregnant, that would be a big sign."<p>

"Kurama, is she calm yet?" He asked the beast within his wife, seeing her eyes looking like the nine-tailed fox's.  
>"Almost. The kits are giving her a run for her yen even worse than the other two."<br>"I still have no idea how we ended up with twins this time."  
>Kurama shrugged Naruto's shoulders before smiling softly and saying, "There we go, calm again. Bye now."<p>

Once her eyes were blue again, Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I really don't like these hormones this time. Alright, ready to go Koichi?" Her bright mega-watt smile was back and Koichi, with his shock of strawberry blonde hair, returned it and bounded out the door, followed closely by his pregnant mother.

Gaara couldn't help but chuckle at their antics as he picked up Mayu and kissed her cheek. "Ready to help daddy with paper work?" She giggled and clapped. Paperwork for her consisted of coloring and making different origami shapes while she tried to get dad to make her sand puppets. Paperwork for him was mostly trying to keep an eye on his five-year-old daughter while giving enough attention to the work. Sometimes, he would make a shadow clone just so he could play with her.

All in all, life was good.


End file.
